Building on an increasingly sophisticated body of research on policyborrowing in education, this collection explores ways in which the foreign example in education has been and is being used by policy makers in a variety of settings, its principal aim being to assess the usefulness offoreign experience inhome contexts.

This collection brings together leading Canadian scholars working in political science, public policy, and law to explore fundamental questions about the relationship between commissions of inquiry and public policy for the first time: What role do commissions play in policy change? Would policy change have happened without them? Why do some commissions result in policy changes while others do not? --

This two-volume compendium brings together leading scholars from around the world who provide authoritative studies of the old and new epistemic motifs and theoretical strands that have characterized the interdisciplinary field of comparative and international education in the last 50 years. It analyses the shifting agendas of scholarly research, the different intellectual and ideological perspectives and the changing methodological approaches used to examine and interpret education and pedagogy across different political formations, societies and cultures.

Approaches and methods in comparative education are of obvious importance, but do not always receive adequate attention. This second edition of a well-received book, containing thoroughly updated and additional material, contributes new insights within the longstanding traditions of the field. A particular feature is the focus on different units of analysis. Individual chapters compare places, systems, times, cultures, values, policies, curricula and other units. These chapters are contextualised within broader analytical frameworks which identify the purposes and strengths of the field. The book includes a focus on intra-national as well as cross-national comparisons, and highlights the value of approaching themes from different angles. As already demonstrated by the first edition of the book, the work will be of great value not only to producers of comparative education research but also to users who wish to understand more thoroughly the parameters and value of the field.

This anthology aims to make visible those processes, conditions, and impacts on and in European educational institutions (k-HigherEd-VET) which are nowadays influenced by the phenomena of accountability, new public management, outcome-based learning, and educational policies which themselves obviously absorb or even perpetuate these phenomena. Are these phenomena evidence of an increasing instrumentalist view in education? The tendencies mentioned above do not just have an impact on learning processes and results but also on the way in which Bildung and Education are understood and realised in formal learning situations. It is striking that - independent of the original standpoints in a multifaceted European educational landscape with its variety of educational systems - these influences can be recognised as much more than marginal. Rather, they impact upon all educational institutions from kindergarten, preschool, and comprehensive school to higher education, vocational training, special education, and further education. Researchers from different European countries reflect on these perceived 'instrumentalist' tendencies from their own national educational platforms, educational backgrounds in theoretical and empirical research, and educational practice: that is, on a macro-, meso-, and microlevel.

In this book, authors showcase the worldwide spread of Workers’ Faculties as an example of both cooperation between socialist countries in education, and globalization processes in the field of education. Based on extensive research carried out in Cuban, German, Mozambican, and Vietnamese archives as well as expert interviews, it combines detailed case studies of educational transfers and policy implementation with a discussion of theoretical approaches to the study of globalization in and of education.Research on Workers’ Faculties provides an especially interesting example for the study of educational transfer between socialist countries as well as for the interplay of such transfers with processes of globalisation for two reasons. On one hand, the first Workers’ Faculties were established already shortly after the October Revolution in Russia, and Workers’ Faculties continue to exist in Cuba until today. A study of these institutions therefore provides a dynamic perspective covering the whole period of the existence of the socialist camp. On the other hand, the spread of the Workers’ Faculty idea to four continents allows for an analysis that takes into account widely differing local contexts.This book offers an analysis of general trends and particularities in the history of the global spread of the Workers’ Faculty idea and its implementation in local contexts. Finally, it discusses the results with a view towards theories of globalization in the field of education as well as of specificities of processes of “socialist globalization”.

The comparison and borrowing of national policies is a widespread phenomenon in all major policy areas. In education, the PISA study has resulted in a renewed interest in cross-national comparison and reception of policies. In particular, the unexpectedly low results of Germany in the PISA study have sparked increased interest in educational policies and practice elsewhere. The chapters cover a wide variety of educational sectors: vocational education and training, preparation for career choice, citizenship education, secondary and higher education, teacher training and language learning policy. These chapters are framed by more general accounts of the influence of foreign educational reform on national reform agendas and the German reaction to the results of the PISA study. This book provides insights into educational policy formation and implementation of policies into educational practice in England and Germany from a comparative perspective, and is aimed at academics, students, policy makers and the wider public with an interest in the latest developments in the long-standing mutual interest in educational matters in the two countries.

This insightful book analyses the process of the first adoption of guiding human rights principles for education, the Abidjan Principles. It explains the development of the Abidjan Principles, including their articulation of the right to education, the state obligation to provide quality public education, and the role of private actors in education.

Research is increasingly becoming more influential in the field of education and this Handbook brings together a range of top academic experts who represent diverse fields within and outside of education, as well as quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method approaches to provide an upto- date, advanced analysis of all relevant issues involved in educational research. The Handbook is written in lively, welcoming prose and central to the handbook is an intention to encourage and help researchers place ideas at the epicenter of inquiry. In addition explicit discussion of the fundamental challenges that researchers must consciously address throughout their inquiry are identified and solutions provided to help future researchers overcome similar obstacles.

This book provides new evidence on teachers unions and their political activities across nations, and offers a foundation for a comparative politics of education.